As a partner in the law firm of Chico & Nunes, P.C., Robert Hall concentrates his practice in the areas of education law, regulatory matters, government law and business counseling.

Upon earning his Juris Doctorate in 1988, Mr. Hall joined the law firm of Hopkins & Sutter, where he handled complex litigation in both state and federal courts, in diverse areas including education, regulatory law and finance.

In 1996, Mr. Hall dedicated his practice to the education arena on a full-time basis, accepting a position as an attorney with the Chicago Public Schools. During his years of government practice there, Mr. Hall served in several management positions in the law department of the Chicago Board of Education. In his capacities as General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, Mr. Hall supervised more than forty attorneys in eight different practice areas, as well as overseeing the work of outside counsel. Mr. Hall counseled the Board regarding all legal issues impacting the public schools, in addition to negotiating major contracts, including the Board's contracts with insurance carriers providing benefits to more than forty thousand employees of the Chicago Public Schools, as well as the negotiation on behalf of the Chicago Public Schools of its first independent agreement with the utility that provides electricity to the schools. Mr. Hall played a key role in creating a law department that could be relied upon to support all aspects of the turnaround of the Chicago Public Schools.

Since returning to the practice of law in the private sector, Mr. Hall has continued to represent clients in the education industry, government entities and commercial enterprises. In the education arena, Mr. Hall has served as general counsel to school districts, charter schools and other education providers. Based upon this experience, Mr. Hall is also frequently asked to provide counsel to commercial enterprises that seek to do business with school districts and other government entities.

In his work on behalf of school districts and other educational entities, Mr. Hall provides advice and counsel regarding student issues, personnel matters and compliance with an array of federal and state regulations applicable in this industry. Also, Mr. Hall has extensive experience in representing clients regarding disputes asserting unlawful discrimination, including matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Relations. Mr. Hall also has earned a reputation as an able advocate of his clients' interests in contract negotiations, including both multi-million dollar commercial transactions and collective bargaining agreements.

In the area of regulatory law, Mr. Hall has honed his skills by representing clients operating in a number of highly regulated industries. For example, Mr. Hall has appeared as counsel at evidentiary hearings before many regulatory agencies, including the Illinois Education Labor Relations Board, the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Illinois Gaming Board, and the Illinois Horse Racing Board. Mr. Hall also litigated on behalf of an Illinois Race Track that challenged a state agency's application of its regulations, which resulted in a positive decision for the client in the Illinois Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Hall has provided counsel to a national insurance company in its defense of claims that sales practices violated state insurance regulations throughout the country.

Representative Matters:

• Represented education client in obtaining a decision that employee was properly dismissed, including favorable results in the initial arbitration and subsequent litigation asserting that the termination of employment was the result of unlawful discrimination. 
• Negotiated multi-million dollar transactions on behalf of clients, including the Chicago Public Schools' first independent agreement for the purchase of electric services, contracts for employee health insurance options and technology services, as well as collective bargaining agreements.
• On behalf of an education client, resolved contentious litigation via settlement, including a personal injury matter that had been pending for nearly fifteen years, on terms saving the client more than $10,000,000.00 from the amount of the most recent appellate court judgment, which enabled the client to remove a reserve notation from its financial statements.
• Represented a general contractor in successfully advocating for the reversal of the initial determination of an Illinois government agency that a construction project should be awarded to the second lowest bidder rather than the client on technical grounds, resulting in the award of $50,000,000.00+ project to the client.

Admissions

• Illinois
• Trial Bar, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Memberships

• Illinois Council of School Attorneys

Civic and Charitable

• Beverly Area Planning Association
• Chicago Club of the University of Notre Dame

Education

• J.D., University of Illinois Law School 1988
  Editor of the University of Illinois Law Review
• B.B.A. (Accountancy, with Philosophy as a Second Major)
  University of Notre Dame 1985